It had been two years since the Summit High School boys golf team had sent an athlete to the state golf tournament, but from Oct 9-10 that dry spell was broken by junior Jace Melby. 

Even with the transitions and growing pains that come with getting a new head coach in the offseason, Melby managed to continue to progress as a golfer with head coach Zach Dobrota helping to pave the way.

Nearly two weeks prior to the Class 4A state golf tournament, Melby’s hard work and dedication to the sport paid off as he solidified his spot at the state championship event at the 4A Region 4 golf tournament at the Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction on Sept. 20.

At the regional tournament, Melby played fairly consistent throughout the course’s 18 holes and recorded a score of 80 to tie for 13th place overall. The score and placing ultimately resulted in Melby’s first state golf tournament berth.

Wanting to keep his monumental season going, Melby spent the next week and a half preparing for the two day, 36-hole state golf tournament at The Bridges Golf Course and Country Club in Montrose.

After growing familiar with the course through a practice round on Sunday, Oct. 1, Melby began his first, 18-hole round of golf on Monday morning.

In round one, Melby hovered around par over the first five holes, but then shot two strokes over par on hole No. 6 and one stroke over par on hole No. 9. Through nine holes, Melby recorded a score of 40 (+5) and matched that score on the back nine holes.

Through 18 holes, Melby had a score of +10 and a total score of 81. Over the first round, Melby shot under par on one hole and hit par on five holes. 

Knowing he had some work to do if he wanted to improve upon his current rank among the 83-man field, Melby improved his score on the front nine holes of The Bridges Golf Course and Country Club.

With clutch performances on hole No. 3, 7 and 8, Melby tallied a score of 39 to only be four strokes over par on the front nine and one stroke under his score from the day prior. Although Melby managed to improve his score on the front nine, he was challenged on the back half of the course.

Melby shot at, or around par on the first few holes of the back nine, but on hole No. 13 shot seven over par to record a score of 11. The tough hole resulted in a back-nine score of 45 (+9) and four strokes over what he shot the day prior.

Melby finished round two with a total score of 84, 13 strokes over par. With a score of 165 (+23), Melby tied for 46th place with four other linksmen. 

“I honestly think I could’ve done better, but that is golf,” Melby said. “That is the athlete’s point of view. There were a few holes I struggled on, but other than that I played a solid two rounds of golf. It is a nervous feeling standing on that first tee golf, but other than that I tried to treat it like a normal round of golf.”

Melby’s finish is three places behind Ranger Stone’s 43rd-place finish (160) and a 23-place improvement from Ricky Ahlquist’s 69th-place finish (170) from the 2021 state golf tournament. 

Overall, Melby was semi-satisfied with his first appearance at the state golf tournament, but is hoping to build upon his performance during his senior campaign next fall. 

“Over the winter I am going to try to keep swinging,” Melby said. “There is always a few things that can be fixed about the swing. Next summer, stay on the grind before the high school season starts. Here at the (Keystone) Ranch course they kind of hook us up with all the junior passes and how much they let us play gold. Try to take advantage of all that.”

Montrose High School senior Noah Richmond placed first overall with a total score of 139 (-3) while Evergreen High School won the team title with a total score of 440 (+14).